Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 18 – A member of the Majlis (Parliament) Commission on Social Affairs on Friday said Iran ranked highest in the world for fatalities in road accidents.
Iran ranks first for road accident deaths – MP
Iraq rivals draw warning from top cleric as deal hopes dim
AFP: Iraq’s two main contenders to head a new government remained at odds Friday, denting US hopes that a top envoy had advanced the prospects of a deal and drawing a warning from the top Shiite cleric.
Iran calls U.N. sanctions “illegal and invalid”
Reuters: Iran on Friday called United Nations sanctions against its nuclear programme “illegal” and blamed the United States — the main proponent of the measures — for the spread of atomic weapons around the world.
EU targets Iran despite trade ties to Germany, Italy
Wall Street Journal: European Union leaders on Thursday authorized a significant widening of the 27-nation bloc’s sanctions against Iran because of concerns over Tehran’s nuclear-weapons program, in a move that will likely reinforce a slow but steady trend toward weakening economic relations between Europe and Iran.
Anti-government chants continue in the night
Iran Focus: Tehran, Jun. 18 – From the Grapevine… Residents of Tehran’s Rah-e Ahan, Sadeqiya, Arya Shahr, Khosh, Navvab, and Amir-Abad districts on Thursday night chanted “Allah-o Akbar” and “Death to Khamenei”, referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader, from their rooftops.
Iraq car bombs kill five, wound 79
AFP: Two car bombs targeting a provincial councillor and a police officer north of Baghdad on Friday killed five people and wounded 79, many of them women or children, police said.
Clinton welcomes EU, Australia sanctions against Iran
AFP: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday welcomed Australian and European sanctions against Iran, saying she hoped they would influence Iran to take a “more constructive course.”
Russia’s Medvedev criticizes Iran sanctions: report
Reuters: Russia and the United States should “act collectively” to coax Iran back to international talks on its nuclear program, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Thursday.
Many countries support military action on Iran: poll
AFP: Majorities in many Western and some Muslim countries are willing to consider military action against Iran to prevent the Islamic republic from obtaining nuclear weapons, a global poll showed Thursday.
U.S., Europe target Iran investment, trade
Washington Post: The United States and its allies are swiftly tightening an economic cordon around Iran by imposing new strictures that could inflict far more economic pain on the Islamic republic than previous sanctions.
